Writers

JWC2013 Disciplinary Hearing Result - Hadleigh May

irb.com 17 Jun 2013 Getty Images

New Zealand player Hadleigh May appeared before independent Judicial Officer, Antony Davies (England), in Nantes on Saturday 15 June, having been cited for an act contrary to good sportsmanship, namely contact with the eye or eye area, contrary to Law 10.4(m) of the Laws of the Game in his side's IRB Junior World Championship match against Ireland, played at Stade de la Rabine in Vannes on 13 June.

The player denied committing the alleged act of foul play. He admitted that contact was made with the eye or eye area but that such contact was accidental. Having heard all of the evidence the Judicial Officer upheld the citing complaint against the player. He determined the matter to fall within the low end range of sanctions for such offences on the basis that the contact was reckless rather than intentional or deliberate and there was no significant injury. The low end range sanction has an entry point of 12 weeks.

The Judicial Officer did not find there to be any aggravating factors. On account of the mitigating features found he reduced the entry point sanction by 4 weeks to a final sanction of eight weeks. In the context of the tournament this means the player will miss the remaining two matches of the tournament and is further suspended from 9 August to 13 September 2013 inclusive. He is free to play on or after 14 September 2013.

The player has 48 hours from receipt of the written decision to appeal. The full written decision will follow.